Well my lovely ladies and gentlemen, two weeks has somehow flown by, and this is the conclusion of #ShatteringStigmas. I will be thanking you all again later in the post, but up front, thank you, a million times thank you, for making this such a huge success! And the talking isn’t even over- just the event 🙂 I am always available if you need someone to vent to, chat with, ask questions, whatever. There are like, 400 ways to find me, over there on the sidebar —————————->
I kid, I kid 🙂
So, how is this going down? I want to give you some of my favorite YA Mental Health recommendations, give my thanks, and a giveaway! I also have some of the things you’ve left in the survey, which I have turned into graphics, and they’ll be in this little slideshow, so you can see what your anonymous friends have said too!
And now, the books that I have found to be most helpful, accurately portrayed, well written, and emotive in YA:
And now, onto the thank yous!
This event would never, ever have happened without the support of a lot of people. First, every single one of you reading this! Thank you isn’t even enough, I wish I had some more eloquent way to show my thanks, but just thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And a gif, that’s a nice gift:
And the individual thanks:
- To my co-hosts, Kayla and Inge, without whom I would never have had the courage to go forth with this idea. They’ve listened to my freakouts, offered amazing suggestions, ideas, and guidance, posted the most epically amazing posts (seriously, if you haven’t checked them out yet, do it!) and shared amazing guest posts. These ladies kept me as sane as I could hope to be 😉
- My guest posters and interviewees, without whom this event would have been impossible:
–Author Michelle Smith, who not only shared her story, but words of encouragement that have comforted me when I have needed them most. Michelle, words will never be enough to express how much your support has meant.
-Authors Francesca Zappia, Rachel Wilson, and Huntley Fitzpatrick, who not only shared their time and stories, but used their incredible talents to bring the us books that made this event possible.
–Author Jessica Gollub, for sharing her story and keeping me laughing, always. I am so glad to have met you randomly, somehow, and I am glad that your deliciously inventive stories give me an awesome real life distraction!
–Terri @ Second Run Reviews and Erica @ Novel Ink, who shared the most beautiful and heart wrenching personal stories, who had the courage to tell them to the world in hopes of helping others. You definitely have helped others, and I could not be more grateful to you both! - To my buddies and the keepers of my sanity every day: Holly, Val, and Amber, without whom this event literally would never have left the deep recesses of my mind. You encouraged me to go forward, you’re there when I need someone to laugh with, cry with, fangirl with, and be a booknerd with. I have no words, other than I love you guys. And I hate geography.
You can find the links to all my participants above! And mosey on over to Kayla & Inge’s sites for their participants! Good luck 🙂
Just a reminder that you can link up your own stories here, and I will leave it open until the end of September! Also, Erica & Christy @ Novel Ink have an event in the works that I am quite excited about joining! It’s called “Sharing a Story Within a Story”, and it is what it sounds like: sharing a story about a book that touched your life! Look out for the sign ups on September 1st over at Novel Ink!
And so I don’t get weepy and more ridiculous, one last HUGE thank you for the support and then we shall celebrate!!
This was such a great event – Thank you and the others for hosting and contributing to it!
Thank you so much!! I am really glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
Wow, what a great event. Thanks for hosting this and inviting authors too!
Thank you so much 😀
Basically, allow me to heap ALL THE TAKEOUT on you for holding such a wonderful event. Just because it’s over, of course, doesn’t mean we ought to forget about the issue. I feel that there is definitely some erasure of neurodivergent groups in the movement for diverse books, so kudos to you and your co-hosts for spreading the word 😀
Aww THANK YOU!! I agree, it isn’t something that we should just move on from, and I fully plan on continuing the discussion! I really appreciate the support <3 <3
This was such a fantastic event. Loved learning about new books that highlight mental health challenges. There is such huge stigma indeed, and only by having the courage to share our stories will we ever change that.
Thank you so, so much!! You are very correct- the only way to destigmatize is to make talking about it the norm. 😀
You guys sure did a great job shattering those stigmas (I have not gotten over that amazing title). I have learned a lot during this event and I hope that, as a community, we can keep learning about and supporting those who suffer from mental illness. I think this event was a huge step to confronting the things that are normally shoved into a deep corner of our minds. We all acknowledged that this problem is indeed real and dangerous. And that is the first step to recovery. Thanks to you guys for hosting this amazing event!
Aw THANK YOU! I have to tell you, the fact that you loved the title makes me extra happy, because I thought of it literally at the last second, and was super nervous about it! You have made my day 😀
And I agree- the message isn’t over, the work isn’t done- it’s an ongoing conversation that we have to keep up, but hopefully it’s a step!! Thank you so, so much for the support!
This has been such a great series/event, Shannon. Much needed and much appreciated. Thanks for all the hard work put into it and starting conversions that are so important to have. {hugs}
Aw thank you so, so much! I am really glad that you enjoyed it, your support means SO, so much <3 <3
I didn’t know this event was going on or I would have totally hopped on board! Next time ya’ll host another event count me in 😀 I love the idea of this one, because a lot of mental health disorders run in my family and I know how difficult those kind of stigmas can be to live with </3
Aww thank you so much!! I will definitely let you know!! I am glad that it was able to touch upon some issues you can relate to also 😀
Aahw I wish I’d heard of this event sooner! 🙂
Aww I am sorry! I wish you had too 😉
Thank YOU Shannon for hosting this event! It was so interesting and inspiring to read all these wonderful and eye-opening posts, and I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to put this all together. Such an amazing event. Wonderful wrap-up post – I’ll definitely miss this event!
Aww thank you so, so much!! It means so much that you have enjoyed the posts and have been so supportive of this! <3 <3 (I will miss it too, honestly!)
This entire event was fantastic. Thank you so much for bringing this valuable information to us all. I have definitely learned a lot, and I’m for sure going to check out Made You Up and Don’t Touch, after seeing your recommendations. Thanks again! 🙂
Aw thank you SO much!! Your support and enthusiasm is so, so appreciated, it makes me so happy that you have gained something from the event <3 <3 <3
I WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT YOU.
And I loved this event. I am so happy you put so much time and energy into it because I loved all the posts. GOOD JOB SHANNON! This event was beautiful
Awww Val!! You’re going to make my cry! You are the best!! <3 <3 <3
Thank you so much for this event. You and the hosts have all done an amazing job!!
Aww thank you so, SO much!!! <3 <3
nice to share about books discussing these issues
Thanks 😀
This was such a beautiful event, Shannon! I loved all the posts and you guys did a wonderful job with putting up the event together! Thanks a lot for hosting Shannon!
Thank you so, so much! I am so glad that you enjoyed it, it means the world to me! <3 <3
I loved all these posts and seeing them all come up Shannon! So thank you to you (and your cohosts) for thinking up this idea and sharing it. There are just so many different stories to be heard, and so many ways in which we have yet to work on improving reactions and ways that we can help those who might suffer from MH problems. I have read some of the books mentioned and have added Challenger Deep to my TBR. Thanks for the recommendation!
Bit late, but thank YOU again for hosting this event! I had a friend (who I didn’t even know read my blog) come up to me in real life and open up about their own struggles and other people who were supportive, so I just wanted to tell you that it’s definitely had some impact for me, and I’m sure for other people as well. Thanks so much for being open and honest and awesome!
I know this event will help a lot of people!
I loved this event and all the wonderful guest posts and interviews you had here Shannon, it was really insightful and helpful and mental health is so important!
I love all the quotes you made __>
Thank you so much for considering me for this event, Shannon. It has been amazing and I loved doing it, and I love you <3
What a great event! I had so much fun reading all of these lovely posts. Thank you so much! 🙂
I think I made a mistake on the raffle, I’m following It Starts at Midnight via bloglovin, my username is jen7waters, I think I pasted a tweet on the raffle instead of my bloglovin profile url/name, sorry :((
I found myself just nodding my head as I read through the comments in the slideshow. The one that really resonated with my was about how mental illnesses are condemned. There is this perception, held by many, that somebody suffering from depression or any other mental illness can just decide to not be sad anymore or to just eat and be ok. I love that there are authors sharing stories of people with mental health issues, because any honest portrayal will help spread awareness.
This was a great idea to do a shattering stigmas series. It’s been great to read all the different points of view from everyone. Thanks for hosting such a great event!